The contacts of an electrical connector must be electrically connected to corresponding circuit pads on a substrate, for example a printed circuit board, in order to establish a circuit between the substrate and a mating device having a complementary connector. Typical contacts may have pads for surface mounting or pins for through-hole mounting to establish the electrical connection. Although these connections also have mechanical attributes, it is still necessary to mechanically anchor the connector to the substrate in order to prevent any force exerted on the connector during interconnection with a mating device from stressing the electrical interface and possibly damaging the electrical connection.
During assembly, an electrical connector will be placed on the substrate by an assembly mechanism, such as a robot. This placement may be passive or, if high placement accuracy is required, active, possibly utilizing a vision system that registers the images the contacts and the circuit pads. The housing of the electrical connector has a mounting hole that aligns with an opening in the substrate. A rivet, screw, pin, or other type of fastener mechanically anchors the connector housing to the substrate.
However, due to manufacturing inaccuracies, the mounting hole and the corresponding opening may have slightly different configurations or be misaligned when the contacts are properly aligned with the circuit pads. To accommodate these inaccuracies, the fastener is typically made smaller than the mounting hole and/or the corresponding opening by an amount that assures insertion at the largest acceptable deviation. Use of one undersized fastener allows for relative movement between the connector housing and the substrate, resulting in stress being transferred to the contact-circuit pad interface during connection with the mating device. These stresses may be sufficient to damage the electrical connection at the interface, thereby preventing the desired circuit from being established.
What is needed is an anchor pin that mechanically connects the connector housing to the substrate in a way that relative displacement between the two is prevented in spite of misalignment or other manufacturing inaccuracies, thereby protecting the electrical connection at the contact-circuit pad interface from stresses caused during connection with the mating device.